Letter of Love
by adama-roslinlove
Summary: Bill and Laura make it to Earth, but Laura is dying. Bill has written her a letter and decides to share it with her. Takes place during Daybreak Part 2.


**Author's Note: I felt like the end scene of Daybreak needed a little bit more romance. So, this it my take on what we should have seen in that scene.**

**Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica and its characters are the property of Ronald D. Moore, David Eick, Sci-fi Network and NBC. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Bill and Laura cuddle together under the tarp that Bill had set up earlier. Bill gently slides his arm around her shoulder and begins drawing light circles on her jacket sleeve. As they start to relax and realize that they are finally home, Laura notices a group of wild animals eating in a nearby field. She asks Bill for his pair of binoculars, so he reaches back and grabs his binoculars and hands them to her. Laura unsteadily lifts the binoculars to her eyes and makes out a foggy image of a group of antelope.

Bill looks over at her to see her reaction to all the wildlife and he thinks he sees a faint smile cross her face.

"There's so many," Laura says in a shaky voice, "Wait, I want to see more detail." She slowly reaches for her glasses that are on her lap and slides them on. She puts the binoculars back up to her face and sees a clearer image this time.

She sets the binoculars on the ground beside them and weakly coughs into her hand and then lays it down on her lap. Bill picks up her hand and places it in his, while covering the top of her hand with his other. She gives him a short, weak laugh and a look that asks him 'Why?' Even though her hands never stop trembling, Bill has made it a habit to hold her hands and squeeze them and rub them to try and get Laura to relax.

He remembers the first time he saw Laura cry since the finding of the nuked planet that they thought had been Earth. He had come in one night and she was sitting on the rack with her legs bent up to her chest and she was furiously trying to get her hands to stop shaking. She had squeezed them so hard, but it didn't work so she got angry and smacked them against the bed. He had leaned against the wall of the head and watched her get angry with herself. She had started sobbing and he came up behind her and put his arms around her. At first, she had tensed up, but once she realized it was Bill, she relaxed. He had given her a tight hug and then took her hands. He rubbed them and placed a kiss on both of them. He then wiped the tears off her face and gave her a kiss on the lips.

Bill gets pulled out of his reverie when Laura says, "It's a very beautiful world. Does it have a name?"

"Earth," he says with a sigh of relief.

She doesn't know why she laughs at this, but for some reason she finds it funny. She just can't believe that they are actually here, that she made it. "It's not Earth."

"Earth is a dream. One we've been chasing for a long time. We've earned it, this is Earth." Even though he is talking, he doesn't fail to notice that Laura begins to have difficulty breathing. He takes a deep breath, and wills himself not to cry in front of Laura right now.

"Okay, then. Earth. That's fine." She takes a couple of shuddering breaths and says, "Oh. I'm, I'm having trouble breathing." She is trying to study her breathing, but ends up making Bill worried.

Bill turns to look at her and it is as if seeing her like this sets something off in him. Laura notices his frozen figure in the corner of her vision and turns to look at him. Laura sees the look in his eyes and knows immediately what he is going to do. It's as if time slows down when she sees him leaning in toward her. She closes her eyes and moves that last centimeter towards his lips. When their lips meet, she is met with a trembling fear that she feels from Bill. He brings his hand up and gently grasps the back of her neck, touching the strands of her artificial hair that never did her eyes justice. He gives her the most meaningful kiss he can and then releases her lips.

"I love you, Laura. I'm sorry it took me so long to say, but I love you." He gives her another quick, tender kiss and then lies back against the large piece of wood that he found earlier.

Laura lies back against his arm and buries herself in his side. He takes a deep breath and says, "I have this letter that I wrote to you after you collapsed and after I realized that I really was going to lose you and there was no more hiding from it anymore. I made myself promise that one day when we found Earth I was going to build you a beautiful headstone and I was going to bury this letter. I thought that maybe someone would find it one day and would read it, and that one day, I would be set free from my pain. But, since you made it to Earth, and you are seeing it, I thought I would read the letter to you."

"Oh… Alright, go on," Laura says in a shaky voice with a curious smile on her face.

He gradually pulls out the letter from his jacket pocket and slips it out of the envelope. He then lets everything that he has been feeling for the last year come out in the open for Laura to finally hear.

_Laura,_

_I once said that I could never be free of you, that I could never live without you. Well, I was right. You are my heart and my soul. Everyday I see you and I wish that I could take away your pain. It is killing me watching you suffer like this. To watch that happen to someone you love is so painful and something that I thought I would never have to go through. You told me about your mom once and what you went through, now I know what that must have felt like. To wake up one day and not be able to hear your wonderful voice, to feel you in my arms, to laugh with you, to argue with you, and to kiss you, is something that I don't think I can deal with. I know we made mistakes, but I just wish we could have been together longer. I wish we could have built that cabin together, just you and me. I wish that I had said that I loved you sooner. Being with you these last few years was far more of a marriage than me and Carolanne ever really had. I love you more than anything, Laura. Please know that I will always miss you and that I will see you soon. I love you. _

_Yours always, _

_Bill_

Bill sets the letter down in his lap and looks down. There are tears running down his face and he doesn't want Laura to see him cry. That doesn't matter to her though; soon she is placing a trembling hand underneath Bill's chin and lifting his head up so he is looking into her eyes. She brings him into a tight hug that is filled with meaning and love.

"That is the sweetest thing anyone's ever written to me, Bill. Thank you. And, I love you too."

This time it is Laura initiating the kiss even though she is weak. Their lips meet and then part. Bill pulls back and sees a content smile on Laura's face and her eyes are still closed.

Bill suddenly gets a good idea and takes a deep breath. "Would you like to get a better look at them?"

"Yes, I'd love it," Laura says through shuddering breaths, "What? What do you mean?"

Bill sits up and starts to take one of the soft, plaid blankets off Laura. "Watch."

"What? Why? What are you doing?"

"Watch me."

"What are you doing?" Laura asks with a faint smile.

"Put your arm around me. Can you?"

Laura lifts her arm up to put around his shoulder but she can't quite make it. "Frak," she mumbles.

Bill chuckles and says, "Its okay, Laura." He helps put her arm around his shoulder and then secures her into his arms. He lifts her up using his knees, not his back. His knees make a groaning sound and Laura giggles slightly, which then turns into a weak cough.

"I didn't realize I was this heavy, Bill," Laura says once she gets her breath back.

"You are far from heavy, Laura. I am just old."

He tightens his arms around her and they slowly make their way to the raptor, their last journey together in this world.

**End Notes: If you like, please review! I would love to hear your opinion.**


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